Today I’m giving thanks for Rob Weber.
I first met Rob in January 2010 – when there weren’t seed funds or many truly active and known angel investors in Minnesota. Nearly everyone I talked to said I should meet him.
At the time I had many ideas I was incubating. I had been trying to get the second edtech startup I co-founded off the ground for a couple years. I had launched my iGarageSale app the summer before. And I had just launched an app for “MobileRealtyApps.com”s first customer.
Rob was generous with connections – helping me meet with others in the edtech scene in Minnesota. And all of that before we had met in person – the generosity started from the minute of an email intro.
We kept in touch and our paths crossed more frequently when we both set up shop in summer of 2011 in ‘campsites’ at the coworking space f/k/a CoCo. A bit later, I asked Rob to join our advisory board.
Rob and his twin brother Ryan were early commits to our first round of fundraising a year later. The thing that was substantially more valuable than the check itself at the time was the credibility of the Webers investing that helped spark many other commits in the round coming together.
That first round dictated that we have a board of directors consisting of three individuals – our lead investor for the round, me, and one that I would choose. I asked Rob to join as our third board member. It wasn’t a role he asked for. I wanted Rob for the simple reason that he was still in the trenches himself as an entrepreneur and operator, having successfully grown his business.
Rob stayed on the board through the time of sale. Increasingly over time, I would reach out to Rob to bounce ideas and get advice. He was often the first call or text I would make when I wanted help thinking through something.
After the sale, Rob expressed pure joy for me personally in a way that communicated he cared about me and the positive impact it had on me and my family – it had nothing to do with the positive return he and his brother made.
Rob- I’m grateful for your investments in me these last 11 years and I’m grateful for our growing friendship. Thank you!
Originally posted on LinkedIn – head over to give it a like or a share.
I’m giving thanks for 100+ days to individuals that positively impacted me or HomeSpotter’s trajectory.
Rob Weber
So many great relationships forged around those 'campsite' fires. Very proud to be the wood carrier, and loving this series Aaron!